Buffy, Come!!!

Looking at Buffy, from across the room, I yelled “Buffy come,” and she ran across the room right up to my feet. Ignoring Diana who was holding her collar, ignoring the trail of treats on the ground and the other dogs and owners in the class Buffy came ran right up to me when I called.

I slipped into her mouth the piece of hot dog that was in my right hand, scooped her up into my arms and joyfully carried her back over to Diana as the other owners and Brandi the dog trainer in our puppy class applauded.

Weeks earlier in our first Puppy II class, I called Buffy over to me and she completely ignored me. I went up to her, gave her some treats and ran away hoping she would follow. Nothing. Buffy just wandered over to sniff another dog. We put Buffy on her leash and two feet away from her, Buffy finally came over to me. Embarrassed and frustrated, I knew I needed to make a change.

Earlier in the fall we took Puppy I class at Diana at Barker Behavior. The instructor is Brandi Barker. (Really, if your last name is “Barker” doesn’t that pretty much predetermine your career path as a dog trainer?). This is a fantastic dog training company and if you have any need of training help or classes for puppies or older dogs, I highly recommend you look into taking a course from Barker Behavior. I discussed Buffy graduating from Puppy I in this earlier post.

When we signed up to take Puppy II and it was clear that Buffy wasn’t responding as well to me in class as Diana. For various reasons, I was training Buffy less and it became apparent in Puppy I that Buffy was responding much better to Diana than I was. This concerned both of us. Buffy is our dog, and it’s important to Diana and I that Buffy has a strong relationship with both of us.

After that first class of Puppy II, I committed to working with Buffy more inside and outside of class. I realized that my training with Buffy would improve but probably wouldn’t be at the same level as Diana and Buffy as well as the other dogs and owners in class. This frustrated me, but I couldn’t do anything about the past so I focused ahead.

As the weeks of Puppy II progressed Diana and I made an effort to better split the training time with Buffy in class more evenly and I spent a significant more time with Buffy doing training not only at home but also during her walks.

Here's the thing, Buffy really enjoys training. Often during walks, she will look up at me looking for some praise or direction. Sometimes during walks, it's easy to just go through the motions but Buffy likes to have some variety and who could really refuse to engage a puppy with those cute eyes looking up at you.

We first practiced comes from two feet away on leash and eventually Buffy and I got pretty good at comes around the house, but I didn’t really expect that she would be all that great with comes in class. So when Brandi set up Diana at one end of the class with treats in the middle to distract Buffy, I didn’t really think that Buffy would come all the over to me. However, Buffy surprised me as she ran right over and I was ecstatic and everyone in the room applauded knowing how far Buffy and I had come.

Buffy is still not perfect with coming when she’s called. It’s not one of those things she’s naturally good at like sitting or rolling over on her back to get her tummy rubbed (ok that’s not so much a training thing but it’s REALLY cute). But we’re getting there.

With dogs, just like kids, it’s the little moments that make it all worth it. Whether it’s a lick on the face, a wagging tail (I’m talking about dogs here btw), or a little fuzzball responding to a command.

Buffy and I have a long way to go, but we’re getting there. At the end of Puppy I, Buffy was hardly responding to anything I was doing in class and at the end of Puppy II, I was the one commanding Buffy as she passed her final exam and we more than caught up with everyone else in the class.

I am really proud of you girl.
I can't wait to see you when I get home.